The present disclosure relates to data processing, and more specifically, to methods, systems and computer program products for processing performance analysis and process management.
Mainframe computers are computers that are used primarily by large organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing (e.g., census, industry and consumer statistics), enterprise resource planning, and transaction processing. An example of a mainframe computer is a IBM zSeries mainframe computer, which may include multiple processing units, such as general-purpose processors and special purpose processors (e.g., z Integrated Information Processors (zIIPs)). zIIPs are special processors intended to offload the general-purpose processor of the mainframe computer system. These processors do not contain microcode or hardware features that accelerate their designated workload. Instead, the zIIPs may be financially different in that they perform increasing system capacity for targeted workloads without raising the operating system (e.g., z/OS, which is the operating system for mainframe computers produced by IBM) and/or third party software license fees as would be the case if the workload was performed by the general processor.
A general processor of the mainframe computer system may be available to run all workloads (e.g., task control block (TCB) or service request block (SRB)) while the z/OS operating system may only run enclave SRB type workloads on a zIIP. Additionally, the z/OS operating system may only consider SRBs that are part of an enclave and only enclaves that conform to IBM's propriety interface to be eligible for zIIP execution. Running on a zIIP instead of a general-purpose processor may provide cost savings. However, because the zIIP is a limited resource, running some processes on a zIIP could prevent other processes from running on the zIIP. In some embodiments, some software that is zIIP-enabled may not be as suitable for a zIIP as other software. There may be an overhead cost of running software on a zIIP. In some cases the overhead cost may be so high, that it offsets most or all of the potential savings from running the software on the zIIP.